


If Only for Tonight

by mookitano10



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Artist Merlin, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Office Romance, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-09-21 10:06:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9542900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mookitano10/pseuds/mookitano10
Summary: Arthur is not in love with Gwen. Not anymore. He just needs his assistant to pose as his boyfriend at Gwen's wedding to prove that he's really over her. It's as simple as that.Only it isn't. He's not over her and she's marrying one of his best friends. Luckily he doesn't have to suffer through the wedding alone.





	1. The invitation

Arthur looked at the envelope sitting on his kitchen counter. He hated it. Hated how it just sat there looking innocent as if it had no idea of the horror it held inside. He knew what the envelope contained the second he saw it but he didn’t want to believe it. 

The morning had started as any other. Arthur got up, showered, got ready for work, ate a quick breakfast and downed a cup of scalding coffee. While he ate he decided to scan yesterday’s mail that had unceremoniously been flung on the kitchen counter when Arthur returned home from another late night at the office. He always stayed late at the office, it was better than being in his empty flat with nothing to do.

Most of the envelopes contained bills or credit card offers and there was a letter from his sister who was spending the summer in Panama for some school thing. He tucked the letter away to read later and continued flipping through the envelopes and flyers. The last envelope was constructed out of thick expensive paper with fancy lettering on the front. It was from Gwen. 

Arthur didn’t even have to open it to know it was an invitation to her wedding. In all honesty he wasn’t surprised, she and Lance had been dating for over a year now and they were madly, if a bit foolishly, in love with each other. He was disappointed though. Gwen getting married meant that it truly was over and that there wouldn’t be a chance of them getting back together. Not that there was much of a chance anyways, Arthur had royally screwed things up with Gwen two years ago when their five year relationship ended. She’d stormed out of their flat cursing him to high heavens and promising that they would never see each other again. After a few days she’d calmed down and they’d actually talked about things, agreeing that they should just be friends.

Arthur was expecting to never see her again because honestly when you promise to stay friends with an ex who really means it? But Gwen was determined to stay friends and so here they were two years later, tentative friends that only saw each other a few times a year but whenever they did it was always amicable. 

Arthur stormed into the office like any other day but today he seemed exceptionally moody. Merlin noted as his boss slammed his office door behind him. He was going to make Merlin’s life hell today, Merlin was sure of it. He wondered if he could possibly fake an illness and go home before Arthur emerged from his office with a mile long list of tasks that would need to be completed right away.

“Merlin come here!” the intercom screeched.

No such luck. Merlin warily thought. He stood and straightened his tie before walking into Arthur’s office.

“Yes” Merlin said curtly. Arthur wasn’t looking at him he just held up a small sheet of paper with writing on it. Merlin took the paper from his boss and read it quietly. As he suspected it was a list of tasks that needed to be completed promptly but it wasn’t very long. Just three things.

1\. Call the florist and order a dozen roses (yellow) have them sent to the following address with a card that says Congratulations Lance and Gwen. Or some such nonsense, I don’t care.  
Guinevere Smith  
28 Royal Worcester Drive  
Slags Ville  
Lancashire  
LS11 1BA  
United Kingdom  
2\. Order something for lunch; I don’t care what it is just make sure it’s here by one.  
3\. Book a flight to Barbados or somewhere, I don’t care about that either as long as it’s away from here.

Merlin looked up at his boss after he’d finished reading. Arthur looked, tired and sad. Two words Merlin had never thought would describe his boss. Arrogant, stubborn, pigheaded, bossy, gorgeous, god-like. Those were the words Merlin thought of when he looked at Arthur but none of them seemed to fit the man at this particular moment.

“Are you alright?” Merlin asked hesitantly.

“Fine” Was the mumbled response.

“Right, I’ll get on that. How does Curry and a trip to Iceland sound? Or maybe we can go to Japan or New Zealand? I’ve always wanted to go there.” Arthur looked at Merlin for the first time that morning with a smile threatening to break through.

“Who says you’re invited on my last minute trip? And Curry’s fine”

“Arthur, we both know you wouldn’t last a day without me so obviously I’m invited. Which means I should have a say in where we go.”

“Alright we can go wherever you want to go just make sure it’s someplace far away from here.”

“Is there a reason why we’re running away? Mob threats? Tax evasion? Drug Deal gone south?” Merlin planted himself on the edge of Arthur’s desk as he joked. "Did you kill someone without me?"

“I need an excuse not to go to my ex’s wedding.” Arthur tried to smother the smile forming at Merlin's ridiculous assumptions. Merlin was slightly intrigued. His boss never talked about his personal life and as far as Merlin knew, the man didn’t date. He was also slightly jealous of this person and completely baffled by how anyone could break up with Arthur. Sure the man was a workaholic and he was a prat 90% of the time but he was also smart, funny, caring (most of the time) and just a good guy.

“Why don’t you just . . . not go? Why do you even need an excuse?”

“Because if I don’t go then she’ll know I’m still not over her.” Arthur said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“But a spur of the moment trip to Barbados say’s you’re over her?”

“If she thinks I’m with someone, yeah, why do you think I’m allowing you to come?”

“Arthur if I’d known you were the type of guy who normally takes his PAs on spontaneous trips I would have demanded a higher salary.” Merlin joked. What did it say about his boss if the man’s ex would really believe that he’d take his personal assistant on a romantic getaway?

“She doesn’t know you’re my PA.” Arthur pointed out. And then his eyes lit up. “She doesn’t know you’re my PA!”

“Yes Arthur we’ve already established that.”

“NO you’re not getting it. Gwen does not know you’re my PA. You could be my date to the wedding. That’ll convince her that I’m over her.”

“NO.” Merlin said without hesitation. Arthur’s face fell.

“I’ll give you a raise.”

“NO.” Merlin said yet again, offended.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s ridiculous, that’s why not” The two men were standing face to face with their arms folded and scowls gracing their faces. “In what universe would your very female ex believe you’d go for someone like me? A MAN”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” Arthur said offhandedly. “Please Merlin. I can’t go alone and I can’t not go.”

Merlin’s mind was still reeling from Arthur’s statement that he didn’t quite catch the rest of what he’d said. Arthur had dated men? Was he Bi? Merlin had always been sure his boss was straight as they come. Sure Merlin had never heard Arthur talk about dates or exes but he’d always assumed any exes/dates the man had were female.

“Please, and I want to you to note that I don’t say that very often, but . . . Please Merlin will you go with me?” Arthur had a point he didn’t say please very often. In fact in the 8 months Merlin had been working for Arthur he’d only heard the word uttered twice. Once when Arthur desperately needed coffee after having fallen asleep at his desk the night before and the second time when Arthur was on the phone with his sister and he wanted her to get him out of dinner with their father. So Merlin figured if he was using it now he must be truly desperate.

“Fine but we need to set some ground rules. I don’t want anyone here thinking I only got this job because I’m fucking the boss.” Arthur made a face at the lewd comment.

“Nobody will think that because nobody from the office will be there. It will only be one night. I’ll need you to pretend to be my boyfriend, there will be some hand holding, occasional pet names, gazing into each other's eyes, maybe a kiss or two if the situation calls for it, and we might have to dance. We’ll congratulate the happy couple and chat with a few old friends then, we’ll leave early to make it look like we’re running off to shag and on Monday morning we’ll return to work and resume our normal boss/employee relationship.”

“And what about our story?” Merlin asked. He was impressed by how much though Arthur had put into the crazy plan in the short amount of time.

“Story?”

“How did we meet? How long have we been dating? Is it serious or just a fling? People will ask those kinds of questions?”

“Oh um, we met at work, you’re one of our contracting artists that does book covers for us occasionally and we hit it off. That way it’s not a total lie but it doesn’t sound like I’m fucking an employee. We’ve been dating for . . . let's say 3 months?”

“What if they ask which books I’ve done the covers for?” Merlin was picking at the flaws in Arthur’s story.

“Just name one of the really obscure titles that haven’t been released yet or something. They’ll never know. And you are an artists so if they ask any art related questions you shouldn’t have a problem answering.”

“I’m not an artist.” It came out defensively. Merlin loved art and he loved to draw but he’d never shown anyone his work, it was too personal. Arthur gave him a perplexed look.

“But what about that sketch book you keep in your book bag? I see you sketching in it all the time at lunch and the few pictures I’ve glimpsed in passing were amazing.”

Merlin’s heart sped up at Arthur’s words. What had he seen? Merlin had some pretty detailed sketches of his boss. More than half of the sketches in the book featured Arthur. His face, his profile, hell there were three pages dedicated to his hands alone.

“That’s nothing, just a hobby, I’m not an artist.” Merlin started fidgeting with the papers on Arthur’s desk.

“You’re not? But I always thought you were just working here until your art took off or something like that.”

“Nope. So just email me the details for the wedding and I’ll be at my desk tackling this list.” Merlin held up the small paper Arthur had handed him earlier as he backed hastily out of the man’s office.

Arthur shook his head at the odd behavior and then proceeded to compose the email with the date, and time of the wedding for Merlin. He knew asking Merlin to be his pretend boyfriend was a terrible, horrible, awful idea but it was the only option he had. All he had to do was pretend to be attracted to the man, which wouldn’t be that hard honestly. If he wasn’t still madly in love with Gwen he could easily see himself with someone like Merlin, but he was still in love with her and it felt almost like cheating to think about a relationship with someone else. Which was completely ridiculous because they weren’t even together anymore, she was marrying another man. Arthur sighed and buried his face in his hands the next couple weeks leading up to the wedding were going to be a nightmare.


	2. The Wedding

Merlin pulled at the collar of his freshly ironed shirt and fussed with his hair trying to get it to behave for once. Arthur was ten minutes late picking him up and Merlin was seriously considering calling and faking an illness to get out of going to the stupid wedding. He really didn’t want to spend the night watching his crush moon over an unavailable woman. A knock at the door startled him and he almost tripped in his haste to answer it.

“So sorry, I got half way here when I realized the tie I put on was one she’d bought me and I had to go home and change it for another one.” Arthur grabbed Merlin’s arm and ushered him out the door as he explained the reason for his tardiness.

In the cab Merlin tried to look at Arthur without making it obvious he was looking. The man was a god, truly. His golden hair was artfully messy and his dark grey suit fit him perfectly, it was just tight enough to showcase his glorious chest and broad shoulders. Merlin was just glad they were seated and he couldn’t see that magnificent bum. That would be the death of him for sure; Arthur’s bum in those trousers.

Arthur coughed, effectively stealing Merlin’s attention.

“Do you think she’ll know I’m lying?” He asked nervously.

“It depends on how well she knows you. Do you have any tells when you lie?”

“Not that I know of.” Arthur grimaced.

“I think we’ll be fine. Just stick to the plan and we’ll leave early. The less time we spend here the less time people will have to figure out that we’re not really together.” Merlin shrugged and reached for the door as the cab came to a stop. Arthur nodded and climbed out of the vehicle as well.

Merlin grabbed Arthur’s hand just before they walked into the building, hoping he wouldn’t pull away. He didn’t.

 

Arthur’s ex was stunning and Merlin could definitely see why Arthur was still in love with her. She came to talk to them at the reception with her new husband Lance. Merlin wondered if this was the same Lance that went to college with Arthur and if maybe Lance and Gwen had met because of Arthur. That suspicion was confirmed when Gwen brought up a funny story from those college days involving a stolen chicken and two buckets full of shaving cream.

“Arthur you’ll never guess who we ran into the other day!” Gwen crowd as she came closer to the two men.

“Spock?” Arthur joked.

“No even better.” She paused for dramatic effect “Vivienne!”

Arthur’s smile suddenly turned to a grimace “How did that go?”

“She still hates you. I believe the term she used when referring to you was: ‘insufferable wanker’ or something like that.” Lance said with a grin. Merlin was intrigued

“What did you do to this woman to cause such animosity?” Merlin said drawing attention to himself. Gwen gave him a suspicious look and her eyes settled momentarily on the way Arthur’s hand was gripped in his.

Arthur sighed and gave Merlin a brief summary of the story with Gwen and Lance adding in detail here and there.

“Oh you should have seen Vivienne’s face she was so livid. If Lance hadn’t stepped in she probably would have killed Arthur.” Gwen laughed and looked adoringly at her husband.

“Yeah those were some good times.” Arthur chuckled and, not wanting to be outdone by the happy couple, wrapped his arm firmly around Merlin’s waist. Gwen’s eyes zeroed in on the arm but she looked away before either Lance or Arthur noticed. If Merlin hadn’t been paying attention he probably would have missed it himself.

“So how do you know Arthur?” Gwen asked drawing everyone’s attention to Merlin.

“I’m his dealer, he owes me ten grand and he promised to take me to dinner and then we’d stop by the bank later. I didn’t know dinner was actually a wedding.” Merlin said with the straightest face he could muster.

Arthur gave him a betrayed, confused look and Merlin couldn’t help but crack a smile. That’s when Arthur got it, he was joking. In all honesty he should have caught on sooner, he and Merlin always joked like this. Did he think that would change now that they were fake dating?

“Well I’m about to give you ten grand I can’t afford dinner and the food’s free here.” Arthur shrugged and both Gwen and Lance looked a little uncomfortable. Merlin couldn’t hold in the laugh that bubbled up.

“Babe I think we freaked them out.” He said to Arthur then turned to the newlyweds. “Sorry, I was joking I’m not a drug dealer I promise, I just have a strange sense of humor. My name is Merlin.” He held his hand out and introduced himself. Lance shook it hesitantly and Gwen gave him a strange look.

“So how do you know each other?”

“Oh Sorry, Merlin’s my boyfriend. How rude of me I should have made the introductions at the beginning of the conversation.” Arthur pulled Merlin a little closer as he spoke.

“Boyfriend?” Gwen asked quietly.

“Wow mate I didn’t know you were into that sort of thing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that it’s just I’ve only ever seen you with women.” Lance stumbled through his response.

“You didn’t know Arthur was bi?” Gwen asked almost quietly. She and Lance shared a look and then Lance changed the subject.

“So how did you meet?”

“Work, I know, sooo romantic right? You see the man of your dreams across a field of cubicles. He’s wearing a perfectly tailored suit that was obviously expensive. His face is red with rage as he yells at a poor intern and your first thought is. ‘Yes that one, I want that one right there.’ So you swoop in and save the poor underling while simultaneously stealing the man’s attention-“

“And the first thing you choose to say is ‘Wow you’re just a delightful bag of sunshine aren’t you?’” Arthur cuts in before Merlin can finish his story. Merlin’s grin is almost blinding as he nods.

“Well you were being a real snot sack. In my opinion you deserved it.” He shrugged.

“Snot sack? How do you come up with these?” Arthur chuckled.

“It’s a gift.”

“Right so work? Are you one of the publishers or something?” Lance asks.

“No, I’m just one of the freelance artists that they commission on occasion for covers and illustrations.”

“So you’re an artist. That’s lovely I’d love to see some of your work. Arthur’s mother was an artist did you know that?” Gwen chimed in. Arthur stiffened he’d never told Merlin that his mother was an artist. Should he have? Was that something you shared with your boyfriend? Would people be suspicious if Merlin didn’t know about Arthur’s family?

“ I did know that actually, Arthur just recently acquired one of her earlier paintings.” He turned to Arthur “When was it babe? Two weeks ago? At that estate sell, you remember? The rich widow that died and she had purchased one of your mother’s paintings back in the eighties.” He turned back to Gwen and Lance, “The poor woman had outlived her two children and four husbands! She had no family left and her will stated that her belongings be auctioned off. The painting is quite magnificent too, such a detailed dragon with red scales and gold wings.” Merlin loved that painting and he always stared at it when he was at Arthur’s flat. For some reason it reminded him of Arthur.

“Three weeks ago actually. I love that painting.” Arthur said as he made a mental note to ask Merlin how he knew about his mother’s art. He remembered Merlin accompanying him to the auction when he bought the painting but he never told Merlin about his relationship to the painter and all of her paintings were signed Ygraine de Bois, not Ygraine Pendragon. So how did Merlin know?

“How lovely.” Gwen plastered a fake smile on her face. “Lance dear we should let them go and mingle with the other guests, we’ve taken up so much of their time.”

“Yes and I think I saw your brother looking for you.” Lance said easily catching on to what his wife was hinting at. “Well it was nice meeting you Merlin, Arthur don’t be a stranger.” 

Hugs and handshakes were exchanged and then the happy couple wandered off to greet other guests. Arthur stared after them with a stricken expression.

“Let’s find a seat.” Merlin took the initiative and lead his boss to the closest table.

“She looks happy.” Arthur finally said after sitting in silence for fifteen minutes staring at his glass of champagne.

“Now he speaks.” Merlin grumbled. 

“What?”

“Nothing, except now everyone here has probably seen through our little ruse because you spent the last fifteen minutes ignoring me. Normally I wouldn’t mind, I actually prefer it when you ignore me, but generally when you bring a date to a wedding you don’t ignore them to stare longingly at the bride.” Merlin said in a hushed voice. 

“I wasn’t staring at her.” The blond said defensively. 

“Might as well have been.” Merlin folded his arms petulantly. 

“Why do you care so much?” 

“Because, even though you’re an arrogant ars and most days I want to strangle you with whatever ridiculous silk tie you happen to be wearing, you’re still my friend and I’m trying to help you but I can’t do that if you blow it. You might have already blown it.”

“I’ll be sure to never wear a tie around you again.” Arthur reaches up and unnecessarily straightens his tie. Merlin cracks a smile. 

“Come on let’s go salvage our secret relationship.” He grabs Arthur by the hand and tugs him out into the garden. 

“How are we supposed to convince people we’re a couple out here?” 

“Shhhh.” Merlin covers Arthur’s mouth with his own surprising both of them. Before he can really freak out about the fact that he’s kissing his boss he pulls away just enough to whisper in Arthur’s ear.

“I saw the Maid of Honour and one other bridesmaid come out here about five minutes ago and they’re just on the other side of the fountain. Believe me, if they see us making out in a secluded corner they’ll go back in and tell the other bridesmaids, who will tell their dates and anyone else who will listen. Eventually word will get to the bride and groom.”

Merlin thinks he feels Arthur shudder slightly but before he has time to wonder what it could mean the man’s lips are attacking his neck in a sinful way. His hands slowly slide up Arthur’s back, under his jacket and he lets out a moan. Arthur’s mouth comes back to his and this kiss is much more involved than the first one.  
“You, are a genius.” Arthur whispers a few minutes later after he breaks away for air. He surreptitiously glances over Merlin’s shoulder to see if the two women are still there. They are and they both look appropriately scandalized. He smirks and goes in for a third kiss. 

Merlin is in heaven. He’s imagined kissing Arthur before but he never expected it to be like this. Arthur is an amazing kisser as Merlin expected but what really blows him away is the sense of coming home. Everything feels right and it’s all so overwhelming he has to pull away to gather his senses. 

“I think we’ve accomplished our goals here don’t you?” He tries to put some distance between them before he does something he’ll really regret. Monday morning is going to be hell. And Merlin wonders how he’ll make it through work without kissing this man again. 

“Yeah.” Arthur clears his throat and straightens his suit. He glances down at Merlin’s lips and then looks away quickly before the other man catches him. 

The two women have gone inside and when Merlin and Arthur sneak back in they catch sight of them surrounded by the other bridesmaids and a few of the groomsmen. Merlin catches them glancing his and Arthur’s way a couple times so he snuggles closer to Arthur and whispers in his ear. 

“It worked. My job here is done. You wanna get out of here and put the final nail in the coffin?” Arthur nods and pulls him toward the exit. 

“What do you say to a pint.” Merlin tries to say casually as they wait for the cab. He could really use a drink and from the looks of it, so could Arthur. 

“Yeah that’s actually not a bad idea.”

The cab pulls up a moment later and Merlin gives directions to the pub across the street from his flat. He knows the owner and most of the staff and if Freya is working he can probably score them a free drink or two. Plus they won’t have to worry about sharing a cab or not sharing a cab and all that nonsense, because Merlin can just walk home. 

Three hours later finds the two men slouched against the walls of the lift in Merlin’s building. They are both far past tipsy and Merlin has convinced arthur to crash on his couch instead of trying to get home in this condition. 

The moment the door to Merlin’s flat closes Arthur starts shedding clothing. It’s almost like his clothes are on fire and he’s trying to get out of them as fast as humanly possible.

“I can’t stand this damn suit any longer.” The man growls as he flings his shirt to the ground.   
The sight of his boss half naked sobers Merlin considerably and he can’t help but stare. He tries to swallow the lump in his throat and turns away.

“The uh, loo is just down the hall and the kitchen is through that door. I’ll go get you a pillow and some blankets.” He scurries down the hall away from Arthur and attempts to regain control of himself. 

He returns a few minutes later with a blanket and pillow only to find Arthur passed out on his couch. Wearing only his pants and one sock. He doesn’t look comfortable at all with his face mashed into the cushion and half his body hanging off the edge but Merlin doesn’t do anything about it. He just throws the blanket over the man and then grabs a cleaning bucket from the hall closet and puts it on the floor below Arthur’s head incase he gets sick during the night. 

Lying in his bed, Merlin goes over the evening’s events. Mentally cataloging the feel of Arthur’s lips against his and the firm muscle under his fingertips as his hands traced the lines of Arthur’s back. 

Monday was going to be hell.


	3. The Morning After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a short one. The next chapter will be longer I promise.

Arthur wakes to a foul taste in his mouth and a stiff back. He tries to stretch and teeters dangerously on the edge of the couch, only barely able to catch himself before he falls off. Looking around the room Arthur has no idea where he is. He can see his clothes flung about the room and he belatedly realizes he’s only wearing his pants. Thankfully whoever lives here threw a blanket over him. 

A sound to his left catches his attention. Foot steps, he realizes and sits up to see his unknown host. 

Merlin walks into the room with his eyes half closed and his hair sticking up in every direction. Arthur can’t help but wonder if he’s the reason for the hair but then shakes the thought away. He did not sleep with Merlin. He’s pretty sure. Like 80% sure. He only sees his own clothes tossed about the room and he didn’t wake up with Merlin so he assumes he passed out on the couch and Merlin slept in his room. Arthur vaguely remembers Merlin talking him into staying over instead of trying to find a way home in the middle of the night while drunk. He also remembers Merlin kissing him. Or did he kiss Merlin? Both it was both, and they weren’t drunk when it happened, he remembers. 

“Morning.” Merlin mumbles as he passes, unaware of Arthur’s internal monologue. Arthur grunts in response, still not awake enough to form actual words. The younger man disappears into the kitchen for a moment and then comes back holding two glasses of water. He hands one to Arthur and sips at his own.   
“Thanks.” Arthur finally has enough brain function for polite formalities. Merlin pulls a small bottle of painkillers out of his pocket and offers them to Arthur who gratefully pops a couple in his mouth and takes a sip of water to wash them down. 

“So.” Merlin starts then stops.

“So?” 

“That went well. Last night I mean, went . . . well.” Merlin awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “Very believable. No one will question the authenticity of our fake relationship. . . Nope, not at all . . .” Merlin’s ramble came to an abrupt halt and the silence dragged for several seconds between the two men.

“Yeah, uh, thank you again Merlin. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate what you did for me.” Arthur uncomfortable tucked the blanket close around himself while trying not to think about how he was practically naked in Merlin’s living room. 

“I should, uh, get out of your hair.” Arthur mumbles. Merlin takes the hint and leaves the other man to locate all of his clothes and get dressed. 

Arthur stands around awkwardly after putting on his clothes. He doesn’t want to leave without saying goodbye because that would be rude but at the same time he really doesn’t want to face the awkward conversation with Merlin. He hesitates, thinking maybe he’ll just yell down the hall to the other man, when Merlin comes back. He’s dressed in jeans and a tshirt and Arthur can’t help but stare a little. He never sees Merlin in casual clothes. He’d thought Merlin looked good last night but this, this was better. The other man looked comfortable and the easy familiarity the situation exuded made it feel almost intimate. 

Arthur shook the thoughts from his mind and smiled shyly at Merlin. 

“Guess I’ll see you on Monday?” 

“Yeah, Monday. You have that meeting with Brokeart about his new novel.” Merlin nodded.

“Brokeart, yes.” Arthur awkwardly nodded as well. “I’ll just . . . be going now.” He jerked his thumb towards the door then turned and left.


	4. Hell is Objective

Monday comes sooner than either man is prepared for and they spend the entire morning awkwardly dancing around each other until Arthur snaps at Merlin about something or other. Both men easily latch onto the familiar situation and there’s a silent agreement to go back to the way things were before. Or at least they both pretend that things are normal. After two weeks of pretending it becomes easier and Merlin almost believes that its that easy. Late at night when he’s just tired enough to let his guard down and his mind wanders, to Arthur’s lips, the warm wet slide of a tongue against his, and strong hands gently cupping his chin, he tells himself that it’s not real. That Arthur doesn’t think of him like that and he needs to get over his little crush or at least pretend to get over his crush. Fake it til you make it. He tells himself. 

It works, until one day it doesn’t.

Merlin is in the storage closet sorting the new office supplies he’d ordered earlier that week. There’s an unfairly attractive delivery man bringing in the last box of printer paper and his muscles flex deliciously as he sets the heavy box on the shelf Merlin directs him to. Merlin almost feels bad for looking and then he remembers that he’s single and he can look all he wants. He could even do more than look if he wanted to, and if the delivery man wanted to of course. 

“That’s the last one.” The man says and smiles at Merlin sending a little thrill down his spine.

“Thank you. I really appreciate it. I couldn’t have carried all those heavy boxes all by myself.” Merlin says in a flirty tone and slowly moves closer to the other man. Close enough to touch if he wanted to. He’s subtle enough that if the man is straight or not interested he won’t realize it’s flirting but bold enough that someone who was interested would notice. The man blushes and shifts a little closer.

“I-I’ll need you to sign for the boxes.” He stammers, and then seems to remember “Oh, wait . . . you already did, didn’t you?” His face flushes even darker and he nervously rubs the back of his neck.

Merlin chuckles and nods. Then he lightly touches the man’s arm. “Yeah I did. Let me walk you out?” He guides the man back to the lift and he’s about to ask for his number or something equally inappropriate for the office. When the lift doors open and Arthur stormes out.

“Merlin I need a shirt. Some wanker on the street spilled coffee all over me. I swear people need to watch where they’re fucking walking.” Arthur says without sparing a glance at Merlin or the, now forgotten, delivery man. His white shirt has a large brown stain down the front and it’s clinging to his chest and abdomen in a way that makes Merlin’s mouth water. 

Merlin forces a smile and waves back at the delivery man before quickly following in Arthur’s wake. He stops at his desk and pulls a fresh shirt out of the bottom drawer. He learned his lesson early on when Arthur had a pen leak in his breast pocket and sent Merlin on an impromptu shopping trip to buy him a new shirt. Merlin had run to a store close by and ended up getting one that was a size too small. Arthur had had a meeting so there was no time to get another one so his only choices were to suffer through it in a shirt that was stained or one that was almost ready to burst open. Now Merlin keeps a couple new shirts in Arthur’s size tucked away in his desk drawer. 

Merlin entered Arthur’s office with the new shirt, already spraying it with wrinkle release hoping to ease the creases made from being folded and stored in a drawer, when he stopped dead in his tracks. Arthur was standing next to his desk shirtless with a hand full of wet wipes trying to clean the sticky coffee off his chest. His stained shirt draped carelessly over the back of his chair along with a now ruined tie. He’s muttering to himself about idiots and his favorite shirt. 

Merlin has to shake his head free of the inappropriate thoughts before stepping further into the room and closing the door behind him. Arthur looked up at the click of the latch connecting and then sighs when he sees the new shirt. 

“Thanks.” He says and pulls the shirt out of his assistants hands. Merlin shivers at the proximity and he knows it would be so easy to wrap his arms around the back of Arthur’s neck and drag him down into a heated kiss. He clears his throat and steps away from his boss, averting his eyes. 

“Um, coffee?” He asks stupidly. Arthur just nods before he realizes that Merlin isn’t looking at him. 

“Yeah, coffee sounds good.” He croaks then clears his throat. He tries to convince himself that it was just a trick of his imagination and that Merlin wasn’t really looking at him with such raw want in his eyes. 

The moment is broken by the shrill ringing of Arthur’s mobile in his pocket. Merlin takes the momentary distraction to slip out the door and practically run to the coffee shop down the street. Normally he would just use the machine in the breakroom but he needed the extra time the walk would take and he knew Arthur liked their coffee more than the coffee in the breakroom anyway. 

When he returned fifteen minutes later Arthur was behind his desk, thankfully fully clothed, typing away on his keyboard. Merlin wordlessly set the steaming cup down in front of his boss and turns to leave when Arthur looks up. 

“Wait, Merlin. I . . . um, I need a favor.” He’s looking everywhere but at Merlin. 

“Yeah?” Merlin asks, already regretting it. 

“Well I, um, I got a call from an old friend that saw me at Gwen and Lance’s wedding and he . . . and his wife . . . they um, wanted to have dinner and they wanted to meet my new boyfriend.” Arthur makes a face and the word and then hurries to cover it up “He said they’d wanted to talk to me at the wedding, to catch up you know, but we left before they got the chance.” 

“Ok.” Merlin isn’t quite sure where Arthur is going with this.

“Are you free tomorrow night?” Arthur blurts out.

“You want me to go?” Merlin realized, belatedly. He really isn’t normally this slow but there’s something about being around Arthur that turns his brain to mush. 

“Well yeah they think you’re my boyfriend. I can’t show up alone or with someone else.” 

“We agreed, just the one night.” Merlin sputters. He’s not sure he could handle another night of pretending to be Arthur’s boyfriend. He’s having a hard enough time pretending not to be attracted to the man.

“I know, I know. But they’re friends with Gwen and Lance too and it’s only been a couple weeks since the wedding. If I go to dinner with them without my boyfriend they’ll be suspicious, then it’ll get back to Gwen and she’ll know. Merlin please. Just one more night?” 

“You can’t just make up an excuse like I’m out of town visiting family or something. I’m not saying you have to tell them we broke up or anything. They wouldn’t know the difference.” Merlin is grasping at straws. 

“I panicked, ok? I said we would love to have dinner. It’s your fault anyway. If you hadn’t run off while I was on the phone I could have asked you what to do.” Arthur says petulantly. 

“I was getting you coffee. I was doing my job because that’s what people do when they’re at work.” Merlin huffs and plops down on Arthur’s desk.

“Fine.” He sighs. “One more night. But that’s it. I can’t keep doing this. It’s very unprofessional.”

“Thank you Merlin. I promise this is the last time. Scouts honor.” 

“You were a scout?” Merlin asks incredulously.

“No.” Arthur says sheepishly. “But it doesn’t make my promise any less genuine.” 

“What time do I need to be ready and where are we going.”

“Be ready by six and we’re going to their house. Wear a nice shirt with some slacks no tie.” Arthur takes another sip of his coffee and turns back to his computer, signaling the end of the conversation.


End file.
